Xavier Vollenweider

Research student

Xavier's PhD is on the management of climate risk and market risk in agriculture. He is interested both in developed and developing countries, focusing on Ireland and Ethiopia as case studies.

His research is done in partnership with Teagasc|, a semi-state research centre of the Department of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries in Ireland. He received a four-year Walsh fellowship| in October 2009.

Background

Xavier obtained a MA in international relations at the Graduate Institute of International Studies and Development in Geneva before completing a MSc at the University College London in Environmental and Resource Economics.

Research interests

• Production choice under uncertainty;
• Econometric modelling of risk and time preferences;
• Stochastic programming;
• Risk management tool for agriculture (index insurance, forward contract, etc;
• Incentive design for agri-environmental policies;
• Reform of the EU Common Agriculture Policy;
• Risk management in developing countries;
• Impact of climate change on agriculture.

Research articles

2011

Vollenweider, X., di Falco, S., and O'Donoghue, C. May 2011. The impact of risk on inequality: evidence from the Irish agricultural sector. Working paper, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, London, UK. Download PDF of paper| (911KB)

Vollenweider, X., di Falco, S., and O'Donoghue, C. May 2011. Risk preferences and voluntary agri-environmental schemes: does risk aversion explain the uptake of the Rural Environment Protection Scheme? Working paper, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, London, UK. Download PDF of paper| (705KB)